Legends
by chrispylid
Summary: Where did the legends for final fantasy come from? Set during Fang and Vanille's first focus. with OC's.
1. First Encouters

Finally got this story right :)

I put some OC discriptions on my profile, don't forget to enjoy :D

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**Legends**

**First Encounters**

Fang and Vanille had just run from their home town of Paddra. Fang had overheard some guards discussing a "new threat" They called it L'Cie, the guards talked about how to find them. A brand. Fang stared at her arm as one guard perfectly described the mark on her arm, ending with a shocking statement: "preferably captured, but if necessary, shoot to kill"

Fang, as cool as she could be, walked away from the guards, then ran to find Vanille. They scraped together a few belongings then headed as far away from the city as they could. Only after escaping the city did Fang explain in detail why the two were outlaws, but Vanille was full of questions.

"So, where do we go now?"

"... I don't really know"

"Cocoon?"

"Keep dreaming. That's where this, L'Cie thing came from. We gotta just-"

"Halt!" a gruff voice stopped their conversation, Fang and Vanille turned to see two soldiers approaching.

"Damn, Vanille, when they get close distract them. I'll do the rest"

Fang knew her brand would be easy to spot so she made sure her left shoulder was the only one which could be seen.

"Why aren't you in the city?" Vanille needed to distract them, but how?

"Ummm..." she tried to think of a distraction, but the guards' attention was already on her. As soon as the guards' backs were to Fang, Wham! Fang smashed their heads together. The soldiers were simultaneously knocked out.

"Next time wear some helmets" This smug response was premature. One of the soldiers wasn't quite KO-ed. He pressed an emergency button on his uniform, before letting out a few rounds of fire into the air, which Fang quickly stamped out.

Fang and Vanille broke into a sprint. Pulse's army was well known for fast, and big responses. Six or seven soldiers would be there very soon, in an APC if Fang and Vanille were unlucky. They ran into woodland, hoping the backup wouldn't see them.

They had watched the soldiers arrive and leave. They were considering making a move when a voice called "Hey!" A female voice this time, somewhere in the trees. The two spun round to see a woman with very messy hair, brandishing a two handed sword. They stared at another, puzzled. She wasn't a soldier, so maybe didn't know about L'Cie. But what was she doing in woodland?

"Your L'Cie?" as soon this woman asked Fang went for the kill, stopped by another person calling out for her to stop.

"We're L'Cie too, relax" Fang stopped, and saw the woman reveal her brand, several others soon emerged, and after a quick introduction, Dawn, the woman who Fang just attacked, explained what they all were doing.

"You're new out here, aren't you?" Fang and Vanille nodded

"Thought so. We're all here on a mission. We're picking up some thing's for our village. You're welcome to join us. It's probably about the only place you'll be welcome."

"Picking them up from Paddra?" Fang asked."They know about L'Cie."

Dawn explained how they have a contact inside the city who wasn't L'Cie, but helped them. What they were taking was everything that couldn't be cut down or killed. It was a mix between nails, other building materials, and weaponry.

After the "pick up" they started their long walk back to this L'Cie village. Vanille was fascinated by the craftiness of the L'Cie.

"Where is your village?"

"A long way from here"

"It have a name?"

"Oerba"

"How many people live in Oerba?"

"Not many and we tend to keep to ourselves. I only know one other guy who does these pick up missions."

"Who?"

"His names Linnthus, but everyone calls him Linn"

Linnthus was due to meet his "insider"(and close friend) Leo alone, just outside Palumpolum, under two cliff faces for cover. The plan went half right, the location was right, but he wasn't alone. Two figures dressed from head to toe in black were attacking him.

_Assassins, Shit._

Linn ran behind one of them and attacked. It turned out to be a big mistake. The other figure used Sais. Two Sais locked his scimitar in place whilst the first figure kicked the weapon out of his hands, then him to the ground. Linn was helpless as he watched the axe descend toward him. He closed his eyes, resigned to die. He heard a clash followed by a voice of a female assassin.

"He's not our target. Leave him."

"He attacked us! Self defence, right?" Linn could hear the smile in the assassin's voice.

A stern voice replied, "He's no longer a threat Raven. We don't want messy results like last time. Damn it!"

Leo had seen the attention taken off him. He had used an emergency number and rung for help as soon as the attention had been off him. The two assassins struck Leo last running off. The female assassin struck first, Leo predicted the second assassin's attack and blocked the head shot with his shield. Soon after the two assassins appeared, brought back in handcuffs by Sanctum soldiers.

The assassins were arrested, tried and ordered for execution. They were due to be executed a few days later. The damage to Leo and Linn had been done. They both knew he would be on some kind of blacklist, but only Linn knew it would be the first one on.

Linnthus had been in physical training as a soldier with Leo for over a year. His squad was nearing the end of their unarmed training when they were taken to a high security base. Ordinarily they wouldn't be allowed in until they passed armed training, but their commanding officer thought of this as an opportunity to motivate the squads under his control. Certain places were off limits to them, and to most people. The reasons for the restrictions were classified, and piqued Linn's curiosity. Ever curious and wilful, Linn decided to uncover the reasons for the restrictions. Linn left his sleeping quarters just after lights out. There were a few locked doors, but all in all, the security measures surrounding the restricted area were minimal. Linn was surprised and even more curious.

He saw a tunnel entrance marked LEVEL 5 ONLY. Normally that meant a secret research facility, and while Linn may not have clearance to enter the facility, he did have clearance to know of its existence. A LEVEL 5 facility should be heavily fortified. This one didn't even have a guard.

He went down the tunnel until he could see no light. As he turned back he saw that a very sharp turn in the rock face had been made, and there was a dim glow when it must turn again. There were still no defences. At the end of this stretch he saw a heavy metal door. He thought it was locked, but a small push moved the door slightly to discover the source of the light. Linn pushed the door open to see a massive machine: a Fal'Cie. A second latter he heard a massive bang. He passed out for a while.

When he came round he saw the dim daylight above, and a throbbing pain below. He looked down and saw a weird mark on his left shin. A L'Cie brand. He didn't know what it meant, but knew he had to get to his quarters fast.

He managed to get back in time and before he was missed. That day they left the base. Linn was by the back door of his squad's APC when a call came in to his commanding officer.

"Someone's broken into the base. Area DF4 has been sabotaged. We need that APC. Send your Squad back on foot and bring it to us."

After a day's trek, they got back to a scene of panic in the military. Everyone was told about L'Cie brands and how it seemed to spread "like a virus" and anyone seen with it should be "killed on sight"

It took Linn two days to work out what to do. He told Leo that he was a L'Cie, but it wasn't infectious. He also lied by telling Leo that he didn't know how he became one. Leo came up with a plan for him to run away and return every so often for supplies

Back in the present, Leo and Linn knew that they would be sharing the assassin's execution if they weren't fast. They told the soldiers as much as they needed to know then left, they kept the boxes from the pick up and headed to Oerba.

Linnthus was in a funny situation. The female assassin saved his life, and because of her standing up to the other assassin, they both were to die. _The world's tough_ he thought _just be glad you're still alive._

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Hope your keeping up, I'm loving writing this one, chapter two soon! And Paddra is in Final Fantasy 13


	2. Breaking Illusions

Finaly getting into the meat of the story, happy reading+thanks reviewers :D

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Breaking Illusions

Unknown to the L'Cie, the same assassins who attacked Leo were still breathing. They had escaped the prison within hours of arriving.

The prison guards thought they took all weaponry, but the heels of the assassin's trainers were razor sharp. They casually leaned against the perimeter fence, leg up, and dug their heels in. Within seconds a hole was made and they had escaped.

The two assassins ran to a safe-house where they rearmed themselves. They didn't care about being fugitives; that fact was irrelevant because they let their target escape. They were told not to come back until their mission had succeeded. They both knew returning now would mean certain death.

"Ember, we've gotta find Leo."

"No chance, we don't know anything about him, we were given his name and location. He could be anywhere on Cocoon now. Face it, were screwed!"

"Like you have a better idea."

"Ha! Run like hell."

"Everyone will think we're L'Cie."

"I am." Instantly Raven tumbled backwards

"You could have infected me"

"Doubt it. I was a L'Cie before I joined this assassin thing. I'm leaving, you want to come with?"

"And help a L'Cie?"

"Suit yourself."

As Ember turned to leave Raven pounced, only to be blocked and knocked to the ground.

"You're too predictable." Ember broke into a short sprint knowing she could outrun Raven.

_Ember you crazy bitch._

Fang and Vanille were getting used to their new life of walking, fighting and sleeping. Dawn was telling them about her life before becoming a L'Cie.

"While escaping the City was difficult, finding a unguarded gate to Pulse was easy." Fang stopped the group.

"What, you're from Cocoon?"

"You aren't?"

Fang broke into an attack. Whilst she was greatly outnumbered, most of her opponents couldn't fight well. Vanille was frozen on the spot. _They caused this, but attacking them isn't right?_

"Fang what the hell are you doing?" Dawn was blocking the swings of Fang's Bladed Lance, but any quick stabs with it couldn't be blocked.

"Cocoon caused this all. They-" The sound of gunfire broke up the fight, the group droped the box's and scrambled for cover. "Freeze L'Cie!"

A Pulse patrol had heard them. Six soldiers were charging the scattered group. The trigger-happy soldiers came together, but with their targets out of sight, they turned fearful. Mid or long range fights are easily won, but the soldiers knew that the L'Cie could now be hidden in or behind trees, and this is how patrols died.

Fang was found by Dawn and a few more L'Cie. Dawn enforced the idea of ignoring the reason for the patrol attacking until after the fight. The patrol had already called for backup, but this didn't seem to worry the others. They came up with a quick plan. The enemy was in a tight group, so a few spells would inflict damage on them all. The planned attack was being set up. The soldiers were predictable. They followed a path because it gave them more time to fire, but to one side of it, Fang and three others prepared their ambush.

The group was about to unleash their attacks when the soldiers stopped. They had spotted something, Fang watched as their leader gave various hand signals. Fang was confused by them until they became painfully clear. She saw what they had: Vanille!

"Attack!" Fang called the ambush early. A group of three soldiers were caught by several magic attacks and were finished quickly by Fang. Only one had the time to open fire, but the remaining soldiers had hurtled away. The other L'Cie gave chase but the soldiers had a big lead.

Fang was being careless. She knew if the the soldiers turned around it would be game over for her, but she didn't care. Two soldiers turned sharply left as they caught a second glimpse of their target, much closer than before. As they did they fired off a few rounds towards where Fang was, but she had seen Vanille and turned first.

"Vanille get outa here!" Fang yelled as she spotted her gasping for breath in a small clearing, Fang saw the two soldiers as well. She ran to engage them, but they still were fixed on Vanille. As Fang got within striking distance she saw the two opened fire at Vanille. As she took out the first Soldier, Fang heard a screen, she stabbed the second Soldier in the back and as he finally tried to defend himself, Fang struck him on the head, hard.

Fang scampered towards Vanille and saw that Dawn was already there. Vanille was on the floor, a bullet in her left leg. Dawn was kneeling next to Vanille, she too had been shot.

"Are you two ok?"

"She's fine, one bullet scraped her leg, but the others got me" Dawn stood up but her back sparked pain, forcing her down

"You got two bullets in your back, you shouldn't be-"

"What the hell were you thinking back there?"

"Cocoon started L'Cie. It's their fault anyone is made a L'Cie"

"It was one guy who started it, not all of us. If you want to kill someone over it, kill him. We'll will join in too."

"One guy?"

"Oh yeah, you're from Pulse. You haven't heard the real story."

"We don't know the guys name, but the story goes that he never had friends, was hate filled, and always wanting to spread hate among others. He stumbled on a way to spread hate among the entirety of Cocoon and here we are. we call him the traitor cos he caused all this, and if he's still here he will cause more"

"Damn, sorry. I heard that it was a virus made by Cocoon to try and kill all of Pulse. Hey Vanille, can you walk?"

"The bullet didn't strike bone, so you should be able to."

Fang helped Vanille up, Vanille tested her weight on the leg, it stung, but easily bearable.

"I only killed two solders, there's still one left"

"be vigilant, but get the boxes and lets go"

Fang was talking Vanille just behind the group when the boxes were spotted, Dawn immediately instructed the others to pick them up. As Fang and Vanille entered the clearing Fang saw something which wasn't tree like in the corner of her eye, the final soldier eyeing up the others.

She broke into a desperate sprint. He too had just seen the L'Cie but aimed and fired at Dawn, the ring leader. He aimed low, and let the recoil drive the bullets up her, as soon as he saw Fang he turned to defend himself, but one sweeping blow proved decisive.

Everyone had gathered round Dawn, they tried all the spells they knew to heal her, but they weren't effective enough. They were bullets from here ankle to her head, she had no chance.

The rest of the way to Oerba was sombre. Fang was nervous the entire journey; whilst the rest of the group were still willing to let her join, she doubted her chances, and also Vanille's.

Ember had been on the run for days now, she had found a gate to Pulse so she thought to be safe, but she had run out of food. She had no experience of surviving in the wilderness, and was not prepared to die because she ate poisoned food. She was in light forest when she heard an engine, people had to be driving and they must have food.

She saw it was a badly beaten APC, it had an weird emblem on it. _Pulse's army?_ It seemed to be struggling to keep up with walking pace. She pursued it into deeper forest, where she could predict when it was going. She got a large distance between it and got ready to attack it. She wanted to get the soldiers out of the APC before attacking them, so she hauled two small logs up a tree and waited a while.

She threw the first log as the APC approached, and the second when it was directly underneath her., The plan worked, the APC stopped underneath her. As the first soldier got out she fired her crossbow down. The other three soldiers got out of the front and stood still, searching with their eyes for her location. Two guards were directly beneath her, one was the other side of the APC. She jumped out of the tree, shot the soldier on his own with her crossbow and casted Fira as she landed on the other two, she used her Sai's to finish them off. The fight was over before the soldiers realized it had begun. She searched the front for supplies, there were a few snacks which Ember ate.

She went to the back of the APC; she knew Cocoon used them for delivering all sorts of supplies and equipment, as well as troops, but Ember never expected to find the cargo she did.

As she opened the back doors she saw a female figure at the very back of the dark APC with her head in her hands.

"Hey, you ok?" she got no response, Ember weren't even sure she heard.

"I'm not soldier, you're safe now"

"I'm not safe, I'm never going be safe," she forced the words out. The voice put an age to the figure. _Young, no wonder she's scared_.

"Why don't you think you're safe?"

"Because, because..." She couldn't force the words out this time, so she let her actions talk. She slowly reached for her sweatband, and with both arms shaking she moved it down her arm, bowing her head as she did so. she revealed her brand. Ember stepped onto the APC but as the metallic sound rang round the APC the figure flinched, dug her head into her arms.

"Don't get closer, you'll be infected"

"L'Cie can't infect people and I should know." The girl looked up, this was the first time she had seen Ember, she was smiling whilst holding her right sleeve up, showing her brand on the back of her wrist.

"But, L'Cie are merciless. They're savages!"

"Yep, the Sanctum talks a lota crap." a small smile appeared on the girl's face before she bust out with laughter. Ember's smile grew.

"What's your name?"

"Abbie"

"I'm Ember. Come on, you must hate this rust box" she turned to leave the APC.

"Thanks Ember, for rescuing me"

Ember stood still for a while, unsure how to respond. She had no intentions of "rescuing" anyone when she first attacked, and the fight itself was easy.

"Don't mention it"

Now back in the light Ember noticed the Abbie had two concealed daggers. "Hey, can I take a look at a dagger"

"aright" she threw one into the air, Ember caught it with two fingers, before examining it closely.

"Their great quality, do you know how to use them?"

"Kinda. I did a few years of self defence classes, and I've only ever used daggers. Swords need too much strength to use."

"Ha, you're my kind of fighter, use tactics over muscles" Ember tossed the dagger back.

"I'm not much of a fighter. I've only ever used them if I had to"

_Damn, the kid can't handle death _"I'll handle all the nasty stuff then"

"Hey, don't talk like that! I'm not a four year old, I'll kill when I have to, I just don't want to kill everything we see, I don't like fighting, but that doesn't mean I wont"

"You know we will have to fight a lot, and strike first too"

"Why?"

"If we see them from range, we can only attack with my crossbow. If the see us at any distance, they'll shoot to kill"

"But these guys didn't kill me"

_This kid's good _"Your right. I only know Cocoon shoot to kill, though Pulse are hardly gonna let us walk by. We gotta find some good cover soon though, it gets dark early here"

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I'm hoping to update quicker this time, cos I really love my next chapter (finaly get the characters together)


	3. Arival

So much for the quick update, well it's finaly here :D**

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**Arrival**

Fang and Vanille's group were only a day or so from Oerba. Vanille was trying to cheer up Fang by constantly reminding her that nobody blamed her for what had happened. But the rest of the group didn't make much of an effort. They had been with Dawn for much longer and some were struggling to get over her death. The most they did was tell Fang that Oerba actually needed her and Vanille because only a few ex-Cocoon soldiers were decent at fighting.

Every attempt had failed though. She felt like a prisoner. Her mind told her every single opportunity to attack the others, or run off. She only didn't because of Vanille. _What happens if only I go, Vanille gets what I deserve?_ Fang kept hinting her intentions to Vanille, but she refused to show she that knew what she wanted.

Fang slowed her pace hoping Vanille would follow. But as a small rift formed a loud roar was heard overhead. They spun round to see the robotic snake of Dahaka circle low. Fang and Vanille watched as the group scurried for cover. In contrast, Fang and Vanille just walked to a couple of trees. The Fal'Cie didn't seemed much more interested in the others, so they took up positions where they could see the others. They only looked nervous, but not a hint of the panic they had when faced with the Cocoon soldiers.

Everyone went still for a moment, just watching Dahaka trying to find a way round the trees where they were hid. Fang was sure that Dahaka could take all the trees out, and her "captors" in one swoop if it wanted. After a while it seemed to just gave up. It screamed as it soared upwards and Fang watched as it flew off into the distance.

"Hey, how come you all weren't smooshed by Dahaka?" Fang was almost thankful Vanille had asked before she did. They soon learned that it had attacked many times before, but was surprisingly undestructive in attacks. It only ever went for people, and they presumed it had poor eyesight because whenever they took cover it soon gave up its attack.

"Its nest must be pretty close to us because It always attacks Oerba. We just hide for a while and it leaves"

The group finally arrived in Oerba. The rules were very simple: don't be annoying, and don't get annoyed. Fang's fears of punishment were swept aside. It was clear that they really didn't want any more enemies. They didn't care that she and Vanille were from Pulse because they didn't think of themselves from Cocoon. They all were L'Cie from Oerba.

The excitement of a new home died fast for Vanille. Everything on the way was a new experience. She loved the shock of a quite noise in the middle of the night that woke everyone. The attention she had to pay to where they walked, watching the leaves or grass for tiny disturbances, and finding ways to evade patrols, or catch their dinner.

Oerba was boring. Everyone did the same jobs all the time. This was fine for Fang. She was either hunting outside Oerba or sparring inside. But Vanille's job would be tedious: mainly cooking. This annoyed her because she had to watch the food all the time, but every time she looked at the meat it would be exactly as she imagined. She could have taken a nap until the food should be ready, and it always would be.

The other problem with what she did was that it only occupied her for a few hours, she spent the rest of the time trying to have fun by herself or with other kids. She would form a band of her friends to go and explore just outside Oerba, they were told they weren't allowed but this just made Vanille more excited doing so.

Whilst Oerba wasn't cramped or crowded, outside it there were great spaces. Vanille was surprised how easy it was to go off and have no one notice. She would tend to decide what to do. Spying on Fang and some others as they hunted was what Vanille almost always did. Laughing when anything got away, and saying how the hunters were so bad she could do a better job.

Fang liked the way Oerba operated. Everyone looked out for one another, so Fang could relax even when she didn't know where Vanille had gone. She soon became a comedian over a trainer and when trouble did arise, she almost enforced the approach of "it's already happened, so get over it."

Fang settled in better. It seemed like no one really cared that Fang was indirectly responsible for Dawn's death. If they did, they got over the fact quietly; everyone knew that outside of Oerba, everything was hostile.

One thing plagued Fang's mind: Linnthus would be back in Oerba in a few days. She had heard that Dawn had put her life at risk to save him from a Behemoth. She didn't know whether or not they were close but Fang was gutted about Dawn's death, and she didn't even risk much by talking to Fang and Vanille.

Ember and Abbie had been walking for a day, they had no food and no idea of where to go. They stayed in deep forest hoping that it would be viewed as to dangerous and difficult for any soldiers to effectively patrol. They sat down for a break, Ember was teaching Abbie some good counters she knew when they heard a rustle of leaves followed by a harrowing voice.

"Halt L'Cie!"

Abbie froze, but Ember faced the disturbance, she watched as the distant Pulse patrol moved across them, guns drawn but not even near her.

"Abbie, they've seen someone else" Ember's voice was a wispier. They weren't in danger, but someone else was.

The two L'Cie got close enough to the patrol to see the patrol and two men, who must be L'Cie.

"Abbie, follow me." Ember jumped high up a tree and stuck her Sais in, she then swung to a high branch. "Try to get to the branch below me Abbie." Abbie managed only to get to a low branch, so Ember had to go down and help her up a few more. Ember saw the patrol getting fairly close so scraped together a plan.

_there five soldiers down there, one on each L'Cie, and the others scouting the area. if we take out the scouts the other two might be beaten by the L'Cie._

Ember just pointed at one soldier and told Abbie "That one's yours. Wait till I reload."

Ember feared that Abbie would argue all day if she could, so Ember didn't even look at her to make sure she understood what to do.

Ember fired her crossbow, killing the patrol commander instantly. The scouts moved to the source of the sound whilst the L'Cie were moved out of sight. Ember looked at Abbie as she reloaded her crossbow, saw the scouts turn to run towards the L'Cie as gunshots went off.

"Attack!" she cast fira at the soldier she then shot with a crossbow and as the former captives came back into sight Abbie pounced out of the tree, striking the remaining soldier with the blunt bottoms of her daggers.

The L'Cie that Ember and Abbie had just fought for weren't two friends who are hopelessly lost and can't fight, they where Linnthus and Leo.

They stood there, unshaken by what just happened. Just interested by the teen that had crashed down on a soldier and seemingly killed two others within seconds. Leo quickly broke the silence.

"Three soldiers, nice-"

"What? Oh, no. I just took out this one" Abbie could feel herself starting to blush "It was mainly her" she pointed out the tree she leaped from and Linn and Leo saw Ember sitting on a branch. She gave a quick wave with her fingers before sliding of the branch.

Linnthus heard Leo and Abbie exchange names, but his mind was only focused on one thing. _Whoa. She's, beu- oh _shit. This really wasn't what Linnthus needed. He had convinced himself long ago that any close relationship was a bad idea due to extremely simple logic.

Since he was young he had always followed his instincts. They always got him out of a situation before it got worse, and they had told him how to survive. He was confident enough to know that he would always be a survivor. But he knew that his life wouldn't really be worth living if all his best friends got killed. This problem plagued his mind for a long time, until a simple solution came. _What if I don't have any? _This flawed solution was the answer he wanted, so he ignored the obvious costs he would pay and the idea has stuck with him since. From then on he became distant to all his friends. His only good friends were Leo and Dawn, and that's only because without them, he would be dead.

He had seen Leo go through many girlfriends though the years. Search, find, date, lose and repeat. He didn't see much reason to have one, but now his entire mind was focused Ember.

"He's Linnthus, but everyone calls him Linn" the sound of his name snapped Linnthus out of his trance.

As Ember approached the others she noticed a familiar face: Leo. She kept herself looking calm until Leo looked at her. Her heart skipped a beat. _Does he know who I am? Damn, I'm in the same freaking outfit except for a face mask._

"Hi, I'm Leo and this is Linnthus" _he doesn't know. _She could have cheered out loud at this point, but controlled the gleam on her face with a reply.

"My name's Ember"

_That voice. _Linnthus recognised it, it took him a moment to work out who it belonged to. _The assassin, that explains a lot_. Ember had saved his life, though it should have been at the cost of her own. He was nervous now. _Leo's totally unaware of the danger. _Linnthus raised his scimitar. _As if your really gonna hurt her Linn. _He quickly pointed with it in the direction of Oerba.

"This way, let's go" he lead the group away

"Why that way?" Ember pointed the opposite direction. "There's more cover over there" Linnthus hesitated.

"How long have you guys been L'Cie?"

"About a week"

"I've been one for a while, but I only got on Pulse a few days ago"

_More than one day on Pulse is unlikely _"Can I see your Brands?" Ember and Abbie showed them.

"How did you survive more than a day without killed?"

"Hey, speak for yourself. We just rescued you."

"Well, we didn't really, need rescuing."

"Really?" Ember folded her arms. Her sarcasm made Abbie laugh. Leo wanted to put the two right.

"We get caught all the time. We just escape"

_Something you should know about. _"Not that were unappreciative" Linnthus was maintaining friendship. Masking his belief that he may have to kill Ember.

"Why did you want to see our brands?"

"Proof that your L'Cie"

"Can we see yours?"

"Well, you can see mine, but Leo's not really a L'Cie"

"What!"

"Relax, I'm on your side. I was helping Linn from inside Cocoon until my cover got blown."

"Hey, do you have any food?"

"We can hunt some later" A small growl from Abbie's stomach argued against this.

"hmm, me and Leo will hunt now, we'll be back in."

"I'm coming too" Ember walked past the two, not looking for a response.

"um, ok, but Leo, you stay back, it's harder to hunt with more people"

Linnthus had told Ember descriptions of the creatures that were good to eat. But as he crept up on one Ember shot it with her crossbow. Linnthus frowned and turned to see Ember laughing

"That just takes the fun out of it"

"I'm hungry, and this is big enough." Linn shook his head and smiled.

"Alright. Ember, Listen..."

"What?"Ember was perplexed by Linn's sudden change of tone.

"I know who you are: You're an assassin. I know you attacked Leo" Ember slowly touched her Sais and wrapped her fingers round them.

"Do you still want him dead?" Ember let her sais go.

"I never did. It was a kidnap mission. Doing it now would achieve nothing"

"Good to hear that. Weren't there two of you?"

_Raven_. "Yes. He's probably pleading for his life, blaming me for everything. I can't blame him. How do you know all this?"

"I was the guy who attacked you, but you still saved me."

"You weren't our target." Ember gave a small smile.

"Why was he a target?"

"I don't know. We're just given a picture, a time and a location. We normally get more, and the choice of time when to strike, but we don't complain. It pays ok and they don't have L'Cie checks."

"Who paid you?"

"General Gideon"

"General? What does he need assassins for?"

"People tend to use us so the targets or their allies don't know who really did it. That's my guess. Come on, I haven't had meat in ages."

After the group ate they made little progress towards Oerba. The day was mainly spent talking about Oerba and a casual walk. The pace picked up and within a few days Oerba was in sight.

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I hope your enjoying and now I really think my next update will be quicker


	4. The Perfect Plan

I forgot to tell you, but their descriptions of all my OC's at the bottom of my profile page, enjoy the new chapter :)

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**The Perfect Plan**

Fang woke to chaos in Oerba. A lot of shouting and the odd scuffle surrounded her, she had no idea what had happened. She saw Vanille, a careless elbow had knocked her to the ground, not a sign of care from the aggressor. Fang ran over as Vanille found her bearings.

"Vanille! What the hell's going on?"

"Everyone's gone crazy. They're all taking "their" things, talking about running from Oerba"

"Why?"

"Something about Cocoon's army attacking. But they're not here!"

_Shit _"We're only safe from Pulse forces. Dawn's guy on Pulse pulled strings so he and his platoon are meant to patrol where Oerba is, but he sends his forces nowhere near us. Cocoon have Patrols on Grand Pulse. If they find Oerba they'll obliterate it"

"So we run?"

"No, Maybe" _Cocoon soldiers will eventually find Oerba, but if we run Cocoon or Pulse could find us._ "I don't know"

Fang's mind was racing, If they left they would be harder to spot, but both Cocoon and Pulse forces would be hunting them, but if they stayed, Cocoon would find them. They would be driven into open ground. _Run faster the bullets?_

"We should stay." Vanille was thinking about the dilemma as well. "Pulse will find the Cocoon forces, so they will have to focus on fighting each other. No Pulse forces are near us, so Cocoon should stay away."

The more Fang thought about this the more sense it made. Everyone could go on like before; they didn't even need to do anything. If Cocoon did come it would under fire or weakened, making fighting easier and the chance of just flattening Oerba with slow heavy machinery almost nothing.

"You're right." Vanille beamed at this. But their moment of satisfaction was cut short by a tussle moving through them.

_Damn, this has got to stop._

Fangs eyes scanned Oerba, and fixed themselves on a house, a mighty swing of her Bladed lance knocked a support off. As the first floor hit the ground the house shattered, silencing the scuffles.

"Listen up! We're all staying. Pulse will keep Cocoon occupied, And if they find us we can fight them. Anything heavy will be near their front lines, and Pulse forces aren't near us. All we need to do is take out infantry, we'll just ambush them. We can take their guns and if we're fast they won't give any specific about us, if they do, then we run"

The silence was only broken by the odd murmur. Vanille's plan, seemed the safest, the easiest to, the majority soon made those wanting to run think twice.

A quiet calm descended on Oerba. Not much talk as people slowly resumed what they normally do. Fang's routine was broken again because of a yell, but this was informing her of Linnthus and some more L'Cie approaching.

Fang broke into a sprint, she needed herself to talk to him first.

"Wait up!" Vanille wasn't far behind, she had been relaxing on some grass when she heard Fang's name yelled, her ears pricked up to hear what was up and noticed Fang running towards the figures. Fang slowed into a fast walk, partly to allow Vanille to catch up but mainly to allow her breath to do so.

After a brief exchange of names, Fang was thinking up how to sway the conversation towards Dawn. She was fishing for information before Linnthus asked the question.

"Do you two know Dawn?"

Fang and Vanille looked at each other, Fang bit her lip.

"She's dead. Cocoon soldiers shot her, but I blew our cover."

Linnthus stared at Fang. Her eyes confirmed the truth.

"Shit" Linnthus looked down, lost in thought. Then he realised something that brought him back.

"Cocoon soldiers?" a look of panic struck his face "We shouldn't be in Oerba, it's not safe-"

"We just had all this, Oerba's best. You wanna try and hide in Gran Pulse where everything's gonna kill you, or here where we could fight them off?"

Linnthus was still unsure, but a glance around proved decisive. Everyone else thinks Oerba's safer, and he wasn't able to think straight. A nod and turned to Oerba.

"How did you two become L'Cie?"

"We were transporting helmets from a factory to several cities. We were well ahead of schedule so decided to stop for the day and explore a bit of Gran Pulse, It can't of been that far from here actually. We walk a couple hundred meters from out wagon and we see these amazing flowers. Vanille starts picking them until one wont uproot. I give it a yank and the ground gives way. We land in a heap and pass out, dream a little, then come round with Vanille pointing out the huge mark on my shoulder looks similar to the one on her"

"Wacha dream about?" Vanille was more quizzical than normal.

"Falling to the ground, then this big, creature? It's all flaming, and out of control. It bursts out of a mountain-"

"And attacks Cocoon. then it comes back down and then you see yourself again?"

"Yer, did I tell you before?"

"Maybe, but I can remember it so well"

A day or so passed but Linnthus wasn't settled, he had convinced himself that they were sitting ducks in Oerba and Cocoon's army was easily big enough to fight Pulse and find them. He eventually came up with his own solution.

"Leo, I got a plan"

"For what?"

"For our survival, waiting in Oerba won't work, Cocoon will only be delayed by Pulse, it'll take a couple of months for Cocoon to be swarming round every city on Pulse, days afterwards we'll all be found"

"So what do you suggest?"

"Don't let Cocoon win, fight them off"

"You're nuts!"

"I don't mean head on, little skirmishes, cut off their supplies, If Pulse loose were only as screwed as before and if they win they won't have a reason to hate us."

"They don't have a reason to hate us, none of us did anything wrong on Cocoon, but they chased us off it and Pulse will do the same."

"Pulse capture L'Cie, not kill us on sight, we have a Major in their army who's kept us alive. It's a better plan than waiting for Cocoon to kill us, if Cocoon conquers Pulse we're dead, so we might as well defend it." After a while Leo nodded.

"You're right! We can beat them as well. You guys cast magic, healing, and are so much stronger than them, let's see if I can keep up."

Linnthus quickly gained the support for Fang and Vanille, they soon came up with a list of Targets and more or less where they were on Pulse. Ember also would go, they were preparing to go when Abbie got an idea of what they were up to, and had a quiet word with ember.

"I'm coming with you."

"Why do you want to? It's gonna be hellish."

"I know I'll have to kill, but if Cocoon beats Pulse there will be much more of it. You guys need me after all." A cheeky smile erupted on her face. "I'm the only one who knows how to heal properly." Ember conceded, the truth was they would need her. So after a few sharp words to the group they set off.

They headed for the city of Dali. It would be a target, but hit late. The group had no idea if Dawn had been unlucky by getting hit by the patrol, or if they all were lucky not to have been spotted by more.

"It's easy to get there. We walk a couple days till there's a huge canyon in the way, find the bridge to cross it then were practically there." Fang led, but Linnthus set the pace. The group split their day into trekking and training, and Linnthus forced the group to spend most of it on fast walks. The pressure to see what they were up against kept the group going, they only stopped when they reached the canyon.

Fang's navigational skills were perfect. The bridge was just in sight. No need to guess which way the bridge was and hope. The problem became clear as it come into clearer sight.

"The bridge collapsed? Fang you said it could last longer than the canyon"

"It didn't collapse, it was destroyed. This end still has a chunk of bridge on it but look," Fang pointed at the far end, where the bridge should have met land there was a rough crater, darker than the rest of the canyon. Fang tuned to the group, "My guess: Cocoon blew it up. Made a damn good job of it too. They've probably taken Dali, or will have before we can get to it."

"Do we want to go there then?" Vanille's question put the group to silence, they chose name because it shouldn't have been taken so they could harass Cocoon attackers.

"We go, we can attack supply convoys, they won't be expecting an attack and it's safer than attacking their main forces. Just gotta keep them from knowing where we are. There is another was across right?"

"There are two other ways. A road leads round and eventually to name but closer to the city it will be covered with Cocoon guards, probably entrenched and hidden. The only other way may not even exist anymore, but I doubt it will be guarded."

"What is it?"

"The canyon is made of lots of ridges, a low one has a waterfall, if we can find the right ridge it and cross beneath it, there are hundreds of routes back up. Well covered too. But it'll be hard to find the right ridge."

A quick glance at one another confirmed their thoughts.

"Waterfall it is."

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The next chapter shouldn't take as long to do as this one I know I keep jinxing myself by saying this, but I'm sure this time :)


	5. Dreamer

I do eventually get these done :) The longest chapter yet, hope your ready for it :D

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**Dreamer**

Five days passed. The group kept missing the waterfall. They saw it a few times, but they were always too high. Finally they got lucky: a fine spray of water told them they were close before the narrow but glorious sight of the path beneath the waterfall greeted their eyes.

The narrow path itself was less welcoming. The odd stone falling with the water had weakened it, they had no idea of its strength. Fang stated that they should cross one at a time, she went first, she pressed her back against the rock face and crossed. Each step she tapped the path hard with her Bladed Lance, a slight crumble occasionally, but still strong. As Fang neared the end of the waterfall she noticed that the path was curved slightly and she could no longer see the others, so she shouted round.

"It's safe. Who's next?"

Vanille went next, then Abbie, but as Leo neared the end, the group heard the terrible bang from above. Leo looked up to see rocks of all sizes falling. He broke into a sprint as the path gave way. He saw a shadow ahead and could only brace for the impact. It hit his shoulder hard; he spun round and tumbled onto the other side. They listened to the echoes of the rocks as they hit water and land, they were quiet considering the drop the had fell.

As the echoes cleared , Fang called out "Linn, Ember? You guys still with us?".

"We're alright, I guess. What the hell just happened?"

"What do you think happened? Rocks fell and smashed our path!"

"Should we try to cross?"

"no one gonna catch you if you fall, and I can't see a path on this side"

"Damn! What now?"

"I don't know. I guess we could find a path up which is far from the city. We could follow the road. You can too. Meet in the middle"

"Bad idea. We won't be on the road. We'll be walking in whatever cover we can find. Chances are we will pass each other and continue on."

"Right... Well, go to the bridge wreck. Give us three days and if we don't arrive start searching."

"Right, see you then I guess.."

Fang led the group up and out of the canyon to a long walk back. The first two days were though mere flat grassy plains, coupled with the odd light woodland. An odd quiet surrounded the group, broken only with the roar of a Cocoon convoy sparking a dash for cover. This was troubling the group. The whole point of them leaving Oerba was to attack them, not scatter every time one got close.

The third day was different. The group awoke to an early thunder storm. The poor visibility helped the group. Leo had made them nervous with talk of snipers. The open fields made perfect sniping points; if they open fire, the group would have no chance, and anyone who had been hit would be left for dead.

The group finally hit deep forest. Now they had the upper hand and soon had the opportunity to use it.

"Fang look!" Vanille pointed, a Cocoon APC had stopped slightly off the road, several soldiers moved in and out of the trees, busy with something.

"This is gonna be easy, the soldiers don't even have their guns drawn" Leo swung his sword about, psyching himself up, but Vanille wanted to know what was going on.

"Fang, watcha think their up to?"

"Building, digging?" Fang turned to the group "Let's find out."

Up the trees and across the branches, the group looked down on their prey. There was another APC deeper in the forest, full of materials. Around ten soldiers ferried them from the APC to a flimsy looking tower, covered with aerials and other surveillance equipment.

The group's focus shifted to the soldiers. Only two looked threatening; all the others were busy chatting with their guns slung over their shoulders.

Fang devised a plan to attack the group from the trees with magic and rocks, Leo assigned everyone with their targets, leaving the ones who he judged as "rookies" last. But of course, Abbie had a problem.

"They're doing nothing wrong, why should we attack?"

"They're Cocoon, that's why we left Oerba. To attack them, remember?"

Fang turned to launch the attack, not caring to contemplate Abbie's objection. She was about to start the barrage when the buzz of radios made Halted It.

"Wait" Leo interpreted an exchange of several words and numbers.

"What are they saying?"

"Quiet! Damn, they know we're near. They're pulling out-"

"ATACK!" Fang started the barrage of magic, the others followed before diving on the soldiers. Gunfire rattled the trees in vain. The ambush was over in seconds. The group turned their attention onto the APC's and the tower.

Abbie seemed to be fine wrecking bits of metal. Fang and Vanille started speculating. They needed a healer but they didn't need a teen who refuses to fight and forces the group to stall. After a while Fang assessed that enough damage had been done.

"Come on, we're leaving"

"Awww, can't we finish off the APC's" Vanille found sabotaging more of fun than necessary.

"They can't move or fire. They are finished off"

"These are still Repairable" Leo declared. "It won't cost that much either. We need to get into the controls. They're the expensive bits"

_As if smashing up the engine isn't enough _"Ok then, smash up the insides"

Whilst the others just broke everything Leo was precise, only breaking the most complicated and expensive parts of the machine. But as the group set on the second APC they heard the familiar roar.

_Shit _"Cover, now!"

As the convoy approached the group knew that another ambush would need to be attempted, But the convoy simply passed on at high speed, straight past a wreck of their own army. As Leo broke cover, giving the 'all clear,' he once again inspected the APC, before being blown off his feet by thunder magic.

"It's finished, let's go"

Vanille gave a laugh as she followed Fang, who clearly had not been happy with how the attack had gone.

As dusk settled the group found the bridge wreck again, but two pieces of scenery were missing.

"Guys, I said the bridge wreck right?"

"That's what I heard Fang"

"Then were the hell are Linn and Ember"

a short silence hit the group, even at their slowest they would have only taken a day and a bit. So where were they?

"We gotta look for them" Leo was adamant that something must be wrong.

"Now, I'm sleepy. And after all, we've only got a tiny bit of time till night falls"

Vanille was right. As annoying a fact could be, The light was fading and the group wasn't ready to start looking for them.

"Leo, we'll wait until tomorrow. They're probably in some cover somewhere, If we can't see them in daylight we'll go look for them. They'll look after each other" Leo laughed.

"You pick up on that too?"

"Vanille told me before we left Oerba, didn't you?"

"All I said was I didn't know why he was so weird around her"

Knowing they would defend each other did raise the question: If they're fine then where the hell were they.

The walk to the bridge wreck would take less than a day, so Linnthus and Ember explored a bit, spent a couple days taking in the landscape. They practised their abilities with the odd spar.

The final day had come. The two awoke and set off, knowing that this would be the last day of peaceful mornings filled with joking and stories. Linnthus was never much of a talker, but his confidence had grew as the time with Ember had progressed, and he knew his only realistic chance would be today.

"Hey Linn, what happened when you turned L'Cie?"

_damn. _Linnthus had thought up many different lies to tell now, but they had all vanished. Two fingers up from his conscience.

"Err, it was pretty dark, I was-"

"I think I had a dream like Fang and Vanille" Linnthus was just about able to disguise his relief with surprise at the outburst.

"What happened?"

"I saw a city, I think it's a Pulse one. I hear a bang and the city is masked by dust. As the dust clears I see the city's changed. It Looks more mechanised, I see Cocoon Vehicles entering, but they're civilian. Did anything like this happen when you were made a L'Cie?"

"Maybe, I think I remember it, but how it got there? I don't know whether I dreamed it as I turned L'Cie, or just made it up. Ask Abbie, If she remembers, there must be a link"

Ember nodded "You're right" Linnthus was eager to keep the conversation on themselves, but before the right words could reach him the stopped. They looked around, they were hearing a Heavy metallic march. It was getting closer.

They scanned the area for cover but on a fairly narrow ridge, there were no trees to climb. They caught sight of the source of the noise: not fifty heavily armoured soldiers, but one towering Juggernaut. As It saw them it let off a war cry, steam shot out of its vents as it prepared to engage.

The swings of the Juggernaut were powerful but slow and easy to dodge. The problem was how to attack, but Ember had worked out a plan in seconds.

"Linn! Get him near the edge" she called this as she rolled underneath the mighty robot, striking a leg as she did.

"Go for the legs too." Whilst it wasn't much help, the legs were less armoured than the rest of it.

They lured and attacked until the Juggernaut was at the edge, Linnthus continued the lure as Ember rolled behind it. They couldn't see each other but Ember knew what she was doing. She would wait for it to swing at Linn, he would dodge and the arm would stop, Ember would Charge the arm as it did, knocking the Juggernaut off balance and over the edge. That was the theory.

Ember readied herself and as Linn dodged the swing she charged, the arm stopped exactly where she planed, and a well executed drop kick was the perfect move. She felt the arm move easily, too easily. The arm didn't lock in place between swings. All she did was give the next swing a head start at Linn.

He dodged in time, feeling the arm sweep across his body at speed, but the arm didn't stop, it continued round. Ember was getting up and scanning for the Juggernaut when she found it. A heavy metal arm smashed into her back. Linn could only watch as she was beat into the air, but as she prepared to hit the ground Linn saw the truth: there would be none. A leg briefly clung on to the edge but within a second she was gone.

Linn panicked, whist he was busy thinking what to do he caught a glimpse of the Juggernaut. He fell to the floor to dodge. He stayed down and slid over the edge. He climbed down a few rocks to see the Juggernaut halt a last ditch attack before it smashed up the rock face.

As he looked down he saw the fall could be survivable, _but head first? _He forced himself to stop thinking and to focus on where he was. A slippery rock-face, with no actual idea of how to properly climb. He took a breath, and one step at a time he climbed down. Soon the slippery rock face and the crack of thunder got the better of him. He slipped just over halfway down.

He got the feeling Ember must have felt: Total loss of control mixed with constant acceleration. The ground at the bottom mercifully curved, it sent him into a short roll before crashing into a tree. He stayed down for a while, thinking about how that would have felt at twice the speed.

As his daze wore off he shot up, scanned the area for Ember. If she was alive Ember would have heard that, but no one came running from the trees. She was out cold at best. He stumbled around for a while, kept changing direction. After a while his frustration grew. He tried to calm himself. _Getting annoyed wont help._ He kept telling himself this, but it didn't help. He caught a glimpse of a small river. A dark red vein sent him towards its source. Within seconds he stopped, he could see Ember in the distance.

He sprinted towards her, he had no idea of how injured she was, but she was half in the far side of the river, so she'd rolled far. The river barely touched his ankles until He fell to his knees beside her.

"Ember, can you here me, Ember!" She was out, not a twitch of a response to her name, Linnthus's heart sank as he lifted her wrist, waiting for an answer.

The feel of blood forcing it's way under his thumb gave proof that she was alive. His head started to race. He put his hand in front of her mouth, moving his back to the wind as he did. A faint breeze of her breath meant she could breath. Linnthus fell onto his back In relief and exhaustion, but this would have to wait. He Immediately forced himself back up, looked over Ember. A badly bleeding head was the only obviously bad injury, but she was covered in cuts and he knew wherever the Juggernaut hit he would be bent or broken.

His problem was he hadn't listened to the others. Taking the fight to Cocoon was more important than training. His theory was that if others could heal he didn't have to. He had focused on how to survive attacking a Cocoon convoy with Leo, so barely knew the very basics. He pulled her out of the water, tried a few spells and made a bandage for her head out of a ripped sleeve.

He had just about got his breath when he heard a noise. I was a wild flan. He quickly dispatched it, but another was close. It was another easy fight but it lead to him speculating how many they were, and what else was lurking in the distance.

He crouched down, lifted Ember onto his shoulders and carried her to the rock face. He considered carrying her up and out of the canyon but he needed to rest. One hell of a fight followed by on hell of a fall was all he could cope with for now. He sat beside Ember and put his head against the rock face. _She's alive, she's safe, that's all you can do_.

He felt his body begin to ache. He'd put in to much effort, forced a damaged to lift itself, run and carry someone else. He knew he was only just surviving, and the creatures around him weren't going to let him forget it. Another flan approached, letting him know that if the first two were a fluke, his luck wasn't going to change soon.

Hours passed, Linnthus eventually found the fights easy, his strength had returned and his stamina was holding out well. The rain had eased off to. The day peaked as A loud groan announced Ember's waking.

"Ember, are you ok? Can you get up?"

"Yes" Ember respond almost without hesitation, but what she said was only what she thought. She pushed the ground hard, but as she lifted herself up her arms gave in. She tried again but the same thing happened.

"Save your strength. Don't try if you can't"

"I can" If effort was all that was needed she'd have been up and away by now. But as she hit the ground for the third time she gave in.

_damn it. S_he felt herself relax and accept she was defenceless. A few moments last she felt a cold come over her. Linnthus notice as she started to shiver, almost tremble. He quickly took his jacket off and laid it on her. After a moment she gave a response.

"Thanks" A faint smile passed between them, but Linnthus could tell Ember was upset.

"I screwed up, didn't I? Too damn aggressive"

"It's fine, we just have to wait for the others to come"

"They're coming?" She felt a spark of life finally hit her.

"They'll come, I know they will. Don't worry, I'll protect you till then" _...liar_ Ember was tried, faint and fighting to stay awake, but she knew what that meant.

"How you holding up?"

"I'm fine, I've had to attack a lot more monsters down here but I'll live"

Ember pieced together the situation, Linnthus was counting the others to come. Light was beginning to fade and one of them would need to be constantly watching out for any attacks when it did.

_What are the chance's of the others trying to find us in the dark?_ Ember knew that it would take more than a few more hours before she could defend herself, and Linnthus wouldn't hold out all night. She accepted the situation.

"Linn, listen. I messed up. I'm why we're here, my mistake. I don't want you getting yourself killed because of it" with this she lost consciousness.

It took Linnthus a while to figure out what she meant, but the message was clear. It was getting dark, this place was covered in monsters, and Ember didn't want him dying trying to save her. This Sent his instincts off.

Before he told himself it was alright to stay because she would wake up and be able to limp to safety. But now the situation was clear. His instincts made themselves heard. _leav-No! A_s night descended his Head became a battle ground. Thoughts flooded his head. he kept telling himself his plan. _Just wait._ He knew Leo would be concerned, he wouldn't let the fact that they weren't at the Bridge go without a reason. _Come on Leo, don't make me leave her. _He felt himself lose control of his body. He punched the floor. This had to stop. He forced his eyes to look at the sky. He focused on the night, away from his situation.

He felt the thoughts about to flood his head, but he didn't know that one of them would kill the others off.

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Hehehe. I wonder if I've annoyed anyone. I really have no idea when the next chapter will be done, but I know I probably wont do any major work on it till 2011


	6. Know Your Enemy

Got a new chapter, Quite proud of it actually :D

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******Know your enemy**

_It's dark; what are my chances?_

It finally dawned on Linnthus; he was trapped. His only escape was to climb the rock face, but now it was dark, even if he could get up he'd be exhausted. One tough fight would prove fatal, and he doubted he could outrun anything.

He knew that his best chance was to rest now, try and keep his energy high enough to fight. As he laid down next to Ember he felt relief hit his body, but as his head touched the floor he had to twitch it back up. Sleep had almost immediately taken him. Linnthus wanted to have a light doze so he was always ready to jump up at any sound. He had felt deep sleep, he knew that would leave Ember as good as gone, but there was little he could do now.

Linnthus hauled his back up the rock face, hoping sleeping upwards could help. Again, as soon as he rested his head he felt the looming deep sleep. Out of ideas, he let it take him.

He woke up shivering, It could only have been minutes. Linnthus needed longer than five minute stints interrupted by the cold. His eyes flicked over to Ember, his jacket laid over her. ___Don't even try. _He cursed his instincts, again the battle had started. His thoughts more like swirls now, he could barely work out what he wanted now.

He was losing all ability to control himself, he was hot, then cold, bursts of energy and a ever-desperate need of sleep gripped his body. He felt his instincts spark again. Y_ou heard her, she wants you to survive. You know what's best._

Linnthus did know, but he refused to give up, so his instincts soon turned on Ember. _She's not worth it. She's the reason your down here wounded, barely living. You need to survive. Take what's yours. Why did you even wait this long!_ _You've been been so stupid. You've let pride take over from survival_. His head was again full of conflict, ended only when he passed out. Soon after he again awoke, but this time a distant noise from above.

___Voices-_"HELP!" He wailed this as loud as he could. He didn't know who was there, but he didn't care. They spoke, that was all he needed to know. He fell to the floor as he heard a distance voice cut short.

"Where are you?" A gruff voice responded, he couldn't put a name on it but he'd stopped.

"At the bottom of this canyon. We need help"

"We?"

"Their two of us"

"Right, don't move, we're coming"

Linnthus fell to the floor,___"were coming" I'm safe, Ember's safe. _He got tired again as heard footsteps get more distant. He fell asleep to the sound of a distant crackle.

"Are your near?" Linnthus woke, the voice seemed to have changed, was it the same? Linnthus called out again. "You're close, over here."

He heard multiple people approaching. He saw a strong beam of light break the darkness as they approached, but as they broke into sight, one of them gave an order.

"Freeze L'Cie!" Solders, four of them encircled him and Ember. He shielded his eyes from the lights and swore, Linnthus had led them to their exact location.

He heard one of them call in backup, but as his eyes adjusted he saw Cocoon emblems. _They sh____oot to kill?_"why are you-"

"Shut up" one of them called, he sounded more scared than angry.

Linnthus saw move light come from above him, they were homing in on them, He heard the whirling noise as more troops abseiled down the rock face.

There were now eight soldiers around him, just standing there. "What ar-"

"Shut up!" a more panicked response this time. He worked out the fear he was causing by just being there. Linnthus knew he was no match for them, but they still thought he posed a threat.

Several minutes passed, occasional frantic radio messages breaking the silence until the sound of engines reached them.

Three APCs arrived, two spotlights bathed the area as the third APC backed up between them. As soon as it stopped the rear door opened and more soldiers surrounded him. Last off was an officer.

"Stand up, hands up, now" Linnthus did as he was told but noticed as the officer repeated it to Ember as he drew his handgun.

"She can't, she's out cold"

The officer shot a glare at Linnthus, but paused.

"Don't speak unless I say to do so. What weapons do you have?"

"Just that" Linnthus pointed to his scimitar on the floor.

"Pick it up and put it here, then move back to where you are now. Slowly"

Linnthus picked up the Scimitar and put it exactly where he should have. As he turned and walked back he heard a soldier slowly move and crouch down to pick it up. Gun almost certainly still aimed at him.

Linnthus did this with Embers Sai's but as he picked up her crossbow he heard a almost frantic order.

"Stop. Unload it first" Linnthus aimed down and pulled the trigger. He flinched as the officer fired, missing slightly.

"I said unload, not fire! Now bring it here."

Linnthus did so but as he walked back The officer spoke again.

"Stop, no further. Now turn around" Linnthus did so as the crossbow was taken away. "Now walk into that APC, you have a meeting with General Gideon."

He saw the Officers' delight in this sentence, as he got in the APC the door was shut. Only two small vents on the door allowed light in. He sat at the back, thinking about what just happened.

His thoughts were interrupted as the door was opened. Four soldiers lit up the APC, two more, unarmed entered. They were carrying Ember.

Linnthus was surprised by the care taken by the soldiers as they carefully laid her down. She had several bandages on her and every visible cut had been cleaned. Linnthus was expecting himself to be kept separate from Ember. So far, this looked more like a rescue operation than a capture. The reason for this became clear as Linnthus heard the Officer send a radio message. "We got them both. No, she's knocked out, but living"

Linnthus heard the grunt of the engines as the convoy moved. He was now a prisoner of Cocoon. He questioned why they hadn't open fired on sight, before he could speculate tiredness gripped him again. He laughed with the irony. The only time when he could get good sleep was when he's on his way to Cocoon's high command.

"Linn, where are we, what's happening?"

Ember had awoken first, still weak, but she'd pushed herself up into a corner of the APC. She looked more shaken than hurt.

"Ugh, after it got dark a Cocoon patrol found us, I was in no way to fight them so they captured us. Bandaged you up too"

"Cocoon, why?"

"They wanted us alive, I don't know why that is. Someone said we have a meeting with General Gideon?"

"Shit. His army's in charge of hunting L'Cie . He told me to capture Leo, he'll want me dead"

"What about me?" Linnthus really didn't want to ask this. Ember had the same broken will and this would only make thing worse, but he needed to cover his tracks.

"You just got caught up. Wrong place wrong time. He only wants me, sorry"

Linnthus felt himself cracking as "sorry" echoed in his head.

Ember was wrong. Linnthus knew that he should be the one at rock bottom, apologizing for bringing her down, not the other way round. She needed to know this. Before his instincts or Linnthus himself realized it, he started speaking.

"If Gideon is in charge of hunting down L'Cie, he'll want me more that you" Ember looked suspicious as her eyes cried out why?___Don't tell her! _His instincts were right. Linnthus mumbled out whatever came into his head.

"I've, been a L'Cie much longer than you. I've done, more damage, to Cocoon. He might want us both but I'm a bigger target"

"What have you done to damage Cocoon?"

"I don't want to talk about it" He turned away, even in the low light Ember would tell if he's cringing.

"All right, save your demons" Linnthus spun back round, he'd said the perfect few lines.___Not quite lying too, well done. _Linnthus felt a smile coming, he bowed his head to cover it.

"Thanks"

"Hey, do you know about the others, have they been captured too?"

"I don't think so, The Officer who captured us seemed like the kinda guy who'd try and piss us off as best he could. If they were captured when we were, I think he'd have rubbed it in"

"Right. Damn bastards!"

The APC stopped, turned around and backed up. It stopped for a moment and the sound of scampering from outside was heard. Light flooded the APC as the doors opened, Ember and Linnthus were greeted with the same rookie soldiers as before. Their officer came into sight and was straight to the point.

"Both of you, off and in" He pointed his gun at a well armoured open door. Ember and Linnthus did as told and walked to the door. Ember had to limp which gave Linnthus an opportunity to survey the area. But as Linnthus tried to sneak a peek, a gunshot from the officer told him to keep his eyes on the door. He had noticed that the only building appeared to be the warehouse they were entering, surrounded by fencing.

As they entered they saw more soldiers, they had slightly darker uniforms and were much more confidant around the L'Cie; almost calm. Guns drawn, but not constantly being aimed at them with a flinch every time Linnthus moved.

"In there, and wait" The soldier pointed out the first room on their right. As they entered the door was shut behind them. As the bolts on the door fell they saw the room was a cell, or at least it was supposed to be. Thin slits let in some light and the room was featureless, but it looked more like a store room in a warehouse than a prison.

Linnthus and ember sat down for a moment, thinking. Taking in the silence they started to wonder whether this was to become their new home.

Again they lost track of time, the silence was maintained. Neither of them were in the mood to talk. As they got lost in their own thoughts the silence broke.

The cell door slowly opened slowly, two soldiers entered, one yelled secure and a decorated soldier entered. With a handgun and sword at his sides, and several streaks of colour on his uniform, his name became clear.

_Gideon_

"You L'Cie will have one chance to answer my questions. Your fate can be changed by them." General Gideon let out a sarcastic laugh "They can be, but they won't."

Ember snapped into life. "Why do you hunt L'Cie? What do you think we've done? We're more than trophies!"

The aggressive reactions of Gideon's bodyguards were countered by Gideon's continued laughter.

"The L'Cie thinks she has a point, she thinks what I do is unjust"

"My name's Ember!"

"Quiet. I know your name. I also know you are prepared to kill for a living, you use your power as a L'Cie to help in this. I also know you failed me. You have two counts of death on your head."

"That's not what I asked."

"Ha. You think we hunt L'Cie as a sport, that you're the victim of a cruel game. You're wrong. All will become clear soon." He turned out of the cell "Take her away" Gideon stood aside as more soldiers entered. He watched her get dragged out of the cell, but as they approached Ember, Linnthus called "Stop" But as he rose so did the guns.

"Down, now."

Gideon watched as Linnthus conceded. He slowly sat back down, the soldiers grabbed Ember. Linnthus knew he was a mere spectator in this.

Both Ember and Linnthus's eyes clutched one another, re-enacting what the both wanted. They stayed fixed until sight was snapped away. As Ember left the cell she gave a scowl to Gideon in exchange for a smirk.

Linnthus heard a slam from another cell before Gideon turned.

"I need not tell you why you're here, do I?"

"You've got me. It took you months to find me but well done, I know what happens next"

Another stream of laughter came from Gideon "Such noble words; but no. You know nothing of my plans, what you just said is entirely wrong. We've known your location since you became L'Cie, we knew you were the traitor from day one. We just couldn't execute our plan properly until now"

"What do you mean?"

"Whilst the temptation of having you publicly executed was very strong, It wasn't justice. My plan was find a friend and have them face death for being the traitor. Originally we planned on Leo, but since that failed capture it appears a new target may be more effective"

Linnthus winced, he tried to think up anyone but her, but as a grin stretched Gideon's face he knew.

"That's right Linnthus, were going to kill Ember. She will be kept prisoner until the time is right. Used as a morale boost. We found her on Cocoon, another reason for war, do you not think?"

"Why her? Kill me! She doesn't deserve it-"

"And neither do you" Linnthus seemed to have said the worst thing he could of as Gideon's laughter turned sour "You cause disaster, but instead of facing it you run away. Strolling across Pulse and pretending to be a hero. Bringing L'Cie to your village." Linnthus looked stunned "Yes, we know of it, we've traced every person in there and have their names. We're still planning our attack. Ask yourself this: Why should they get the same punishment as the one who corrupted them. Ember has two death sentences to her name, so acutely she deserves more than death, and you, more than that. Name one reason how this isn't fair. Go on, one reason"

A brief silence descended, Linnthus had been watched constantly, Gideon had planned out everything.

"Nothing, ha. I have to say that Dreadnought you faced, that was only supposed to be a test. We hoped to find out how many men it would take to bring you down, it would seem that I overestimated L'Cie. It's a good thing you called for help, we nearly lost your position. Oh yes, we know of your friends, still planning their punishments. They will come here of their own will, to find and free you. Just be sure to tell them what happened"

With this final blow he turned and left, leaving Linnthus alone to think it all over. He'd risked his own life to keep Ember alive. He'd held off his own instincts until it was too late. All this so she can be killed by Cocoon. ___Don't listen to your instincts Linn, it's not like we're here to fucking save you__._

He punched the ground, the sound echoed around the room. He slumped down in a corner, broken. "Justice" had started. He took in the irony; For years he'd feared death, and as soon as he starts to fight the fear, this happens.

Ember had been slung into a similar looking room, door closed before she could find her feet. She worked herself up._ What____ the hell's he doing. He's supposed to kill L'Cie, not torment them. _The door opened, she wanted to kill but hadn't the strength. However obvious this was the soldiers took no chances, guns briefly aimed at her they called in Gideon.

"What do you want from me!"

"Justice. That alone. You think we hunt L'Cie as criminals, But have you asked yourself why we don't tell anyone who was a L'Cie? Or why we kill on sight, instead of doing the people's wish and executing them publicly"

"Why then"

"We do not see killing L'Cie as murder. We see it as a mercy, from Cie'th"

"Cie'th? They don't exist. They're stories people tell kids."

"Until recently I would have agreed, but the truth is L'Cie over time become Cie'th. Research was done on time between L'Cie and Cie'th, but nothing proved conclusive. Not even close. We kill them because we have to, the kids stories were just a way of controlling knowledge of Cie'th and L'Cie. A total ban on two words was unworkable, so this solution was found"

"Then why aren't I dead?"

"Because you are more than a L'Cie. I told you, Two counts of death, there's no use in shoot to kill, that would dishonour the works we've done keeping both our population and other L'Cie safe.

"So what then?"

"You will be kept prisoner until the people demand something to cheer about. Then you will be brought out and executed publicly for being the traitor."

"But I'm not!" She tried to fight but she barely stood up before falling, The soldiers guns flinched upwards and stayed until she slumped back.

"I know but it's justice for the traitor."

"How? Why isn't he getting death? Who is he?" General Gideon was taken off guard by the last question. Ember's rage simmered as a simple question seemed to have overcome Gideon. It took Gideon a moment to think something through, but as he did a smile returned his composure.

"Of course, why would he tell?"

"Who?"

"Why would Linnthus tell you he's the traitor" Another smug smile came to his face.

"Liar!"

Gideon sighed. "Why would I need to lie. He snuck out of his barracks the night this all started, I have recordings. I'm sure you must have some suspicion with whatever he's told you. Think hard."

Ember still denied it, but thought about any reason for lying to someone condemned to death, and what Linnthus had said: _"I've done more damage to Cocoon"..Damn it_

"I'll kill him, Show him now I'll do it" as the guns were raised again Ember barely calmed down, before shots were fired Gideon spoke.

"Is that so?" Ember nodded. Gideon again looked deep in thought. "Quite a revelation. Hmm. This will need time, but you may have just saved yourself."

Gideon pondered some more, then turned to leave. "Tomorrow will prove more interesting than I first imagined"

As the door closed Ember too was left thinking, she was now in limbo. Linnthus was the traitor, she'd been played by him. Led to believe he was heroic, leading a brave charge against Cocoon to save L'Cie. Now she knew it was to save himself, with her and the others now being brought down with him.

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